During the Adams administration Hamilton exerted an enormous amount
of energy in trying to control the government from behind the scenes
through his cronies from the Washington cabinet whom Adams had unwisely
kept on in his. Neither Adams nor Washington was much inclined to use
religion for political purposes; Hamilton, on the other hand, saw it as a
great mine of untapped opportunity. He himself strongly believed that Adams
ought to take advantage of American religiosity as a way of drumming up
popular support for what then seemed an inevitable war against,evolutionary
France. Here, in a letter to William Loughton Smith, he explains his ideas
in remarkably Machiavellian terms:
"In addition to these [military] measures it may be proper by some
religious solemnity to impress seriously the minds of the People. A
philosopher may regard the present course of things in Europe as some great
providential dispensation. A Christian can hardly view it in any other
light. Both these descriptions of persons must approve a national appeal to
Heaven for protection. The politician will consider this as an important
means of influencing Opinion, and will think it a valuable resource in a
contest with France to set the Religious Ideas of his Countrymen in active
Competition with the Atheistical tenets of their enemies. This is an
advantage which we shall be very unskilful, if we do not improve to the
utmost. And the impulse cannot be too early given. I am persuaded a day of
humiliation and prayer besides being very proper would be extremely
useful."
This wonderful letter should be better known—indeed, it should be
canonized as one of the classic texts of the founding of the United States,
for it sets out with remarkable neatness and honesty one of the great
ruling principles of the republic: the practice of Bible-thumping as "an
important means of influencing Opinion"; the rallying of jingoism and
militarism through the setting of "the Religious Ideas of [the
politician's] Countrymen in active Competition with the Atheistical [or
fanatical, nowadays] tenets of their enemies." What makes Hamilton's
comments so striking is his straightforward admission of opportunism.
Hamilton passed these thoughts on to his friend James McHenry,
secretary of war in Adams's cabinet.
". . . [L] et the President recommend a day to be observed as a day
of fasting humiliation & prayer. On religious ground this is very proper—On
political, it is very expedient. The Government will be very unwise if it
does not make the most of the religious preposessions of our
people—opposing the honest enthusiasm of Religious Opinion to the phrenzy
of Political fanaticism."
And in another letter:
"In such a crisis this appears to me proper in itself, and it will
be politically useful to impress our nation that there is a serious state
of things—to strengthen religious ideas in a contest, which in its progress
may require that our people may consider themselves as the defenders of
their country against atheism, conquest, and anarchy."
This is a policy Hamilton's political heirs have practiced to great
effect, right down to George W. Bush and his War on Terror. Adams in the
end was persuaded by the logic and proclaimed a day of "solemn humiliation,
fasting and prayer" for May 9, 1798. It was a decision Adams was doubtful
about at the time and came bitterly to regret later on, even blaming it for
his defeat in the 1800 election.
During the months leading up to that election, Hamilton did his
very best to undermine the nascent Republican party and its most powerful
figure, Jefferson. He even secretly proposed to John Jay that they meddle
with the electoral process in New York to that end: "In times like these in
which we live, it will not do to be overscrupulous. It is easy to sacrifice
the substantial interests of a society by a strict adherence to ordinary
rules." Such rules "ought not to hinder the taking of a legal and
constitutional step, to prevent an Atheist in Religion and a Fanatic in
politics from getting possession of the helm of the State." (This
philosophy has been shared by Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, among other
recent American statesmen.) One of the principal ways Hamilton tried to
achieve his end was to launch a smear campaign against the Virginian,
portraying him whenever possible as a godless and amoral man who would
degrade the tone of the office and let the country lapse into degeneracy.
He defeated his own purpose, however, by failing to control his personal
animus against the leading Federalist candidate, Adams, writing a truly
scurrilous pamphlet against him which did great damage both to Adams
himself and to Hamilton's own Federalist party.
In any case the people, at least at that time, turned out not to be
quite as malleable as Hamilton had hoped, and there was considerable
backlash against his smears. One of the most eloquent opponents of
Hamiltonian rhetoric was the anti-clerical activist Abraham Bishop, who in
his 1800 address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Yale asked the students
to use their discernment and common sense regarding the political scene.
"How much, think you," he asked, "has religion benefited by sermons,
intended to show that Satan and Cain were jacobins? How much by sermons in
which every deistical argument has been presented with its greatest force
as being a part of the republican creed? . . . The people, instead of being
alarmed lest religion should suffer under a new administration, ought to be
infinitely solicitous to wrest the protection of it from those who are
using it as a state engine"—a warning that still holds good today. Later,
after Jefferson's election, Bishop returned to the subject in another
oration. "[When] the pretended friends of religion lead infidel lives; when
they carry religion to market and offer it in exchange for luxuries and
honors; when they place it familiarly and constantly in the columns of
newspapers, MANIFESTLY CONNECTED WITH ELECTIONEERING
PURPOSES. {Emphasis added by author of Moral Minority], and when they are
offering it up as a morning and evening sacrifice on the altar of political
party—these men are placing a firebrand to every meeting house and applying
a torch to every bible."
The attack on Jefferson's irreligion was in fact to backfire badly; the
general population turned out to be a little more sophisticated than
Hamilton had given them credit for. Most informed voters knew perfectly
well that a Jefferson administration was no more likely than any other to
sink the nation into moral depravity When to everyone's surprise Aaron Burr
tied with Jefferson in the first ballot, leaving Adams out of the running
in third place, Hamilton felt considerable discomfiture, for Burr really
was the libertine Hamilton had accused Jefferson of being—"truly the
Catiline of America," as he said. Now Hamilton was forced not only to lend
his support to the hated Jefferson, but honestly to assess the personal
qualities of this longtime foe for the first time. Jefferson, he now
grudgingly admitted, was "By far not so dangerous a man [as Burr] and he
has pretensions to character."
The Federalist party, which had been largely Hamilton's creation,
was effectively dead. It never won another presidential election, and
Hamilton himself would not hold political office again. Nevertheless he
continued to work his influence behind the scenes. One of his most
interesting schemes, from the perspective of our twenty-first century
alliance between Christian organizations and conservative politics, was the
proposed creation of a "Christian Constitutional Society" In a letter to
Federalist congressman James A. Bayard he outlined this plan, stressing
above all its political utility.
Nothing is more fallacious than to expect to produce any valuable or
permanent results, in political projects, by relying merely on the reason
of men. Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals and for the most
part governed by the impulse of passion. This is a truth well understood by
our adversaries [the Republicans] who have practised upon it with
no small benefit to their cause. For at the very moment they are eulogizing
the reason of men & professing to appeal only to that faculty, they are
courting the strongest & most active passion of the human heart—VANITY!
. . . I now offer you the outline of the plan. . . . Let an
Association be formed to be denominated, "The Christian Constitutional
Society" It's objects to be
1st The support of the Christian Religion.
2nd The support of the Constitution of the United States.
Ist Organization.
1st A directing council consisting of a President & 12 Members, of
whom 4 & the President to be a quorum.
2nd A sub-directing council in each State consisting of a
Vice-President & 12 members, of whom 4 with the Vice-President to be a
quorum & 3rd As many societies in each State, as local circumstances may
permit to be formed by the Sub-directing council.
The Meeting at Washington to Nominate the President &
Vice-President together with 4 Members of each of the councils, who are to
complete their own numbers respectively.
Its Means.
1st The diffusion of information. For this purpose not only the
Newspapers but pamphlets must be largely employed & to do this a fund must
be created. 5 dollars annually for 8 years, to be contributed by each
member who can really afford it, (taking care not to burden the less able
brethren) may afford a competent fund for a competent time. It is essential
to be able to disseminate gratis useful publications. Whenever it can be
done, & there is a press, clubs should be formed to meet once a week, read
the newspapers & prepare essays paragraphs &ct.
2nd The use of all lawful means in concert to promote the election
of fit men. A lively correspondence must be kept up between the different
Societies.
3rd The promoting of institutions of a charitable & useful nature
in the management of the Foederalists. The populous cities ought
particularly to be attended to. Perhaps it will be well to institute in
such places 1st Societies for the relief of Emigrants-2nd. Academies each
with one professor for instructing the different Classes of Mechanics in
the principles of Mechanics & Elements of Chemistry. . . .
Hamilton's piety had been for many years merely opportunistic, but
with the 1801 dueling death of his eldest son, Philip, he sought true
comfort in religion and became, perhaps for the first time since early
youth, a sincere Christian. His own death in 1804 was eerily reminiscent of
his son's, and the last two centuries have seen a great deal of speculation
as to why Hamilton did not pull the trigger during his fateful duel with
Aaron Burr. Was he depressed? Was this a form of suicide? But Hamilton's
own explanation was simple and credible, and there is no reason not to take
it seriously:
The Scruples of a Christian [he wrote to his wife before the duel]
have determined me to expose my own life to any extent rather than subject
my self to the guilt of taking the life of another. This must increase my
hazards & redoubles my pangs for you. But you had rather I should die
innocent than live guilty. Heaven can preserve me and I humbly hope will
but in the contrary event, I charge you to remember that you are a
Christian. God's will be done. The will of a merciful God must be good.
Unlike the supposedly devout Washington, the renegade Hamilton
wished desperately to have a minister present at his deathbed, and when it
became clear that he was mortally wounded
he asked for one. But now Hamilton's illegitimate birth and skeptical past
came back to haunt him: New York's men of God, in their wisdom, were not
eager to help this by now truly penitent soul to meet its Maker. Although
in the months before his death Hamilton had conducted family prayers at
home, he had not attended a church since his college days. Now Benjamin
Moore, New York's Episcopal bishop, refused to give the dying Hamilton
communion on the grounds that he had not been baptized and was not a
regular churchgoer. Hamilton then sent for a Presbyterian pastor, who
informed him that he could receive communion only in church. Moore was
summoned once again, and finally served communion to the dying man, but
only grudgingly and after delivering a stern lecture on the sinfulness of
dueling.
So while Hamilton "got" religion shortly before his death, this
newly won faith had no effect on the enormous contributions he had made to
the new nation. During his youth he heartily supported his Virginian
colleagues in their efforts to keep God out of the Constitution, to forbid
religious establishments, and to promote full religious liberty; later,
when he did try to introduce piety into the public discourse, it was for
the base purpose of electioneering rather than as a sincere ideological
effort to break down the wall of separation. If the heroes of the five
preceding chapters appear from our perspective as rather idealized
Enlightenment philosopher-kings, the practical and hard-nosed Hamilton
points the way toward the future, and to our own era of violent political
partisanship and religious hucksterism.
212 Notes for pages 130-141
130 "In addition to these . . .": Hamilton to William Loughton Smith, April
10, 1797, ibid., XXI, 41.
131 "[L] et the President recommend . . .": Hamilton to James McHenry,
January 27–February 11, 1798, ibid., XXI, 345-346.
131 "In such a crisis . . .": Hamilton to Timothy Pickering, March 22,
1797, ibid., XX, 545.
131-132 "In times like these . . . of the State . . .": ibid., XXIV, 465.
132 "How much, think you . . .": Abraham Bishop, Connecticut Republicanism:
An Oration on the Extent and Power of Political Delusion (New Haven, 1800),
20.
132-133 "[When] the pretended friends . . .": Bishop, Oration delivered in
Wallingford, Conn.: on the 11th of March 1861, before the Republicans of
the State of Connecticut, at their general thanksgiving for the election of
Thomas Jefferson to the presidency, and of Aaron Burr to the
vice-presidency, of the United States of America (Bennington, Vt., 1801),
31.
133 "truly the Catiline of America . . .": Hamilton to Oliver Wolcott,
December 16, 1800, in Syrett, XXV, 257.
133 "By far not so dangerous . . .": ibid.
133-135 "Nothing is more fallacious . . .": Hamilton to James A. Bayard,
April 16, 1802, ibid., XXV, 605-610.
135 "The Scruples of a Christian . . .": Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton,
July 10, 1804, ibid ., XXVI, 308.
SOURCE: Moral Minority, Our Skeptical Founding Fathers. Brooke Allen, Ivan
R. Dee, Chicago (2006) pp. 130 - 36
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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